


Clint Barton, Omega

by Takanotori_Kari



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (the non-sex kind), Adoption, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Deaf Clint Barton, Fluff, Gen, Genius! Clint, M/M, Pheromones, Triplets, my babies just needed some love, non-explicit child abuse, non-graphic birth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-07-14 05:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7154891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takanotori_Kari/pseuds/Takanotori_Kari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint is an omega with a broken history, but that doesn't make him any less of a badass, despite being only ten years old. He finds pack and family with a headstrong alpha/omega couple who are already expecting. After being adopted, Clint finds himself confronted with surprise after surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pack Bonding

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Alphabet Soup](https://archiveofourown.org/works/646913) by [ceria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceria/pseuds/ceria). 



> Trigger warning for remembrance of abuse and a sense of cognitive detatchment

Clint Barton does not remember his parents and he barely remembers the orphanage, probably because he was two when he and his brother Barney went to the orphanage and nearly five when they left. He knows that his parents died when his drunkard of a father wrapped the pickup around a tree. Barney said the bastard was always a mean drunk. He knows that he’s deaf because said bastard hit him in precisely the right place on his head. 

The records that Barney stole from the orphanage said that he was lucky there wasn’t more damage to his brain. Lucky his ass. He wonders if the damage added now will be enough to convince doctors that he wasn’t lucky in any way, shape, or form. His face feels like ground beef and the rest of his body feels like he expects being run over by a car would feel like. Who beats the crap out of a ten year old and leaves him for dead?

Oh yeah! His dirty rotten mentors and his own brother, that’s who. He’d caught them stealing from Carson’s and they had set upon his young body with little to no hesitation. They’d then loaded his unconscious body into the back of a pickup, drove into the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, and rolled him right back out of the still moving vehicle just as he regained consciousness.

He’d been lying here since because everything just hurt too damn much to move even an inch. He can feel the rumble of a car over the ground, but he can’t tell how far away it is because the bastards had taken his hearing aids. He doesn’t hold out any hope of being found because, again, he’s been left in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere to wait for death, painfully and slowly. 

Clint closes his eyes and doesn’t notice that the rumbling has stopped until a hand lands on his left shoulder. The one that he’s pretty sure is dislocated. He has enough hearing left to hear his own screams and the sounds of surprise that echo around him. After a few attempts to talk to him the people seem to realize that he can’t understand much more than consonants.

They don’t touch him again and they seem to be waiting for something but it doesn’t occur to Clint that it might be some form of help until he can feel the lights burning into his corneas from the other side of his eyelids. The paramedics are quick to load him into the ambulance and he is just as quick to black out. When Clint opens his eyes again, it’s to three stark, white walls and bright sunlight streaming into the room from a window behind him. He can’t hear worth a damn, but he’s used to that. What he’s not used to is waking up in a hospital bed with a dark-skinned giant of an alpha leaning towards him from the seat next to him. To say he freaked out may be a bit of an understatement. His biceps and shoulder muscles were only slightly too big for the ventilation shaft, but he managed to squeeze himself in with a minimum of fuss.

“Boss?” Clint reads the new comer’s lips with only a little difficulty; he’d been practicing for a while now, after all. The beta male who comes into the room is dressed like a doctor, but he addresses the gigantic man in front of him. The alpha does not look like the head of a medical organization. He’s rather shabbily dressed in what look like army fatigues that had been through a hell of a lot more than a war, an alien invasion, maybe. His eyes are fixed on the grate that Clint has pulled back in front of his face. It feels like the man can see straight into his soul and Clint represses a shiver of pure, unadulterated fear.  
“Hey, kid. Can you read my lips?” He attempts to make some sort of affirmative noise in response. “Good. I am Sgt. Marcus Johnson. I’m here to help you feel comfortable and safe. We’d like to help you get some new hearing aids in and have a nice chat about your circumstances. And I’m sure you’re starving. If you put your aids in, you get to choose your meal.”

That’s enough to get the ten-year-old archer out of the vent and into the chair in the corner of the room closest to the window. He refuses to move and kicks out at the beta male when he tries to approach him. The army man sighs and takes the aids from the doctor who goes to stand closer to the door and, more importantly, farther away from Clint. Trickshot, Barney, and the Swordsman were all betas. He didn’t think he’d get over that particular betrayal any time soon. The mere smell of the beta in the door is nearly nauseating. It does not escape Clint’s attention that his abusive drunkard father was also a beta. He wonders idly if all betas are predisposed to beating on children and if the ones who don’t have to work really hard to make sure that their fists stay away from littler bodies. 

His distraction is enough time for the alpha to slip close and fit the aids, uncomfortable and new though they are, to his small ears. For a second, everything is too loud. He winces at the noise. Before he can get his hand up to adjust them, there’s a soft whirring noise and they settle. His head jerks up, but he immediately regrets the action as the room spins uncomfortably. The alpha’s face shifts quickly from amusement to concern and he slides into the chair to Clint’s left.

“Please let the nice doctor check you out. I’ll be here to make sure you don’t get hurt. It’s been three days and we haven’t been able to get a good read on the concussion’s affects because you were asleep.” His voice is soothing and comforting. Clint’s head aches and the room is spinning. He blames the concussion and instinct for his next actions. He climbs into the alpha’s lap before he quietly agrees to be looked over.

Johnson doesn’t seem surprised by Clint’s new position; he simply brings his one of hands up to steady Clint against his chest. The doctor approaches and Clint stiffens, but he’s practically engulfed by the alpha’s scent behind him. When the beta’s scent doesn’t reach his nose, he relaxes infinitesimally. It’s enough for the entire room to release an inaudible sigh of relief and the beta doctor smiles as he examines Clint. The doctor announces that Clint is responding normally to a concussion and brings the IV equipment back over to reattach Clint’s tether.

“We need to know your name, little one. Things like medical history and record keeping are important and it could even help us find your attacker.”

“Clint. Barton. Attackers. Three.” His head feels fuzzy and everything is indistinct.

He decides that there must be pain medication in the IV. He makes to rip the needle-thing back out, but “Shhh. It’s okay. I’m gonna keep you safe. You can trust me. Shhh.”

When he wakes up again, there is a large form curled around him in his hospital bed and a sandwich, jello cup, and orange juice on the table attached to the bed. He tenses because he’s not used to sleeping with another person in his bed, but relaxes again when he catches the scent of the alpha. He’s safe with Johnson. The movement is enough to wake the man up and he slides out of bed and into the seat beside it.

“Where am I?” Clint whispers dazedly.

“You’re in northern New York now. They airlifted you from a smaller hospital in rural Vermont,” placates the large black man. There’s silence for a moment. “Eat. You need your strength.” Clint snorts but follows the alpha’s directions. He’s finished the sandwich and is most of the way through the jello cup when the door slides open softly. A young man enters the room and Clint relaxes almost before he registers that he’s tensed up his shoulders. The new man is an omega and he smells like Johnson. 

“There you are. I have been looking for you everywhere-” He seems to be winding up for a good long talk when he notices Clint. Clint, for his part, is momentarily distracted by the intense need to touch the newcomer. He just wants to snuggle up to him and hope he’s not rejected immediately.

“Hey, babe. Clint, this is my mate, Jasper. Jasper, this is Clint.” Johnson sounds nervous for the first time since Clint woke up. “Jaz, baby, Clint was attacked. When they brought him in a couple days ago, I may have accidentally, um, flew into a protective rage. He imprinted.” Clint tries to pay attention to what Johnson is saying, but he’s distracted again. This time, it’s by the exaggerated swell of the omega’s belly. He doesn’t know why he’s suddenly overwhelmed by the sense of rejection and hurt. It’s irrational. He whines in the back of his throat instinctively. As suddenly as the feeling arrived, it disappears. He’s been swept into an unfamiliar embrace and a sense of peace, contentment, and belonging encompasses his whole body. For a while after that, it’s just sense memory of warmth, family, safety, and love. Something he’s never had before.

He comes back to himself at least a couple hours later. The adults are talking over his head about what appear to be baby names and he’s pressed tight between a solid, strong body at his back and the hot, almost hard girth of the pregnant belly in front of him. His head rests on the chest of the omega, tucked in tight against a collarbone. He listens to the deep rumble of both voices content to float for a while more before he starts paying more attention to what they’re actually saying.  
“We’ll need to move sooner rather than later,” Jasper announces decisively. “There may be enough room in the apartment for the twins, you, and me, but our family is suddenly much bigger than we thought it was.”

“I know, darling.” Marcus soothes. “I won’t let him go anywhere. He’s as much ours as baby button and bruiser there.” Clint can’t help the jerk and gasp that follows. Jasper meets his wide eyes and smiles.

“Hello, little one. I’ll bet you’d like to know what in the blazes is going on, hmm?” The omega asks kindly. “Do you know what imprinting is?” Clint shakes his head. It doesn’t hurt as much as it did before. The answer unexpectedly comes from behind him.

“Imprinting is your body’s way of making sure you’re protected. Basically, your body secreted pheromones that called to protection instincts in alphas and then, when you had gained the attention and protection of one, attempted to make you smell as much like them as possible. It creates a temporary familial bond between alphas and children. If the child is accepted by the alpha’s pack, which for us consists of me and Jaz, the attachment can become a permanent pack bond.”

“You mean,” and here Clint pauses, afraid again. His head spins at the influx of information. “You mean, you wanna keep me?”

“Yes, sweetheart. We want to keep you. I can already tell that you’ll be a great big brother.” Jasper’ words reassure Clint and scare the ever living shit out of him. Jasper opens his mouth to speak again, but the door opens and he shuts his mouth with a soft click.

“I’m glad to see that everyone has bonded so well. I’ll need to check over Clint.” The beta doctor from earlier smiles softly at the three (five?) of them. When his alpha slips out from behind him, Clint is unable to suppress a whimper of loss. A large, warm hand slips into his as Jasper readjusts them so that Clint is seated in his lap and rests against the firm swell of his belly. The doctor examines him much as he did before but he smiles more and is much less timid. “His healing has sped up now that the pack bond between you has solidified. The concussion should be healed up in a couple of days. He should be able to go home tomorrow, which is incredibly lucky for you! It’s your birthday tomorrow!”

Clint shifts uncomfortably because he’s never gotten why birthdays are such a big deal, but he smiles at the doctor tentatively and gets an orange lollipop for his trouble. The doctor promises to send up dinner for all three of them as he leaves. Marcus picks up the file the doctor left and reads it before his face turns briefly murderous and he turns to Clint. He must unintentionally flinch or something because his alpha’s face softens just a bit.

“Can you tell me who is responsible for hurting you? The police are waiting for me to collect your statement so they can try to catch these bastards.” Clint suppresses a shudder. Jasper’s hand rubs up and down his back and instantly soothes Clint’s nerves.

“My brother, Barney. Trickshot and the Swordsman. I caught them stealing money from the Carsons,” Clint admitted softly. “They thought I was gonna tell someone.”

“And who are the Carsons, Clint?”

“Oh. Right. Well, after we escaped, erm, ran away from the orphanage, me and Barney joined the Circus. Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders. Trickshot taught me how to shoot a bow n arrow. The Swordsman taught me how to throw knives and sword fight and juggle daggers.”

“Wow. Real circus folk they are. Were any of them alphas, Clint?”

“No, sir. They were all betas. Barney presented last summer.”

“Do you know the real names of Trickshot or the Swordsman?”

“No, sir.”

“Alright, Clint, thank you very much. We’ll get them, promise.” Marcus smiled at him, but his eyes were bone weary. “Eat your food. You too, Jasper. I’ll be right back.” Clint hadn’t even noticed the food arrive, but now that he knew, his stomach growled loudly. Jasper chuckled and pulled the little table closer. Marcus smiled again before he slipped out of the room. When Clint looked up at Jasper with a worried expression around the second half of his sandwich, the omega hastened to reassure the child.

“He’s got to get that recording to the police, darling. They need to know who to track down. Hurting a child is a serious offense. Children are precious.” Jasper sounds solid and sure, but Clint can’t quite stifle the disbelieving little laugh. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry everyone so far has let you down, but I promise that Marcus and will never do that to you.”

Clint can’t help but believe him; what he says sounds true. That’s not quite right: what he says resonates a truthfulness directly from Clint’s core. He doesn’t quite understand the logistics of it, but he guesses he doesn’t need to.


	2. The First Month (or so)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta has finished editing! Everything is awesome. Enjoy!

Jasper insisted on buying three humongous cupcakes for Clint’s birthday, nearly a week after the fact, one for each member of their little pack. Seriously, the cupcakes are each about the size of Clint’s head, and Jasper ends up eating all of his own, half of Marcus’ and a quarter of Clint’s. Then he bursts into tears because he says he just feels so fat. Clint doesn’t know what to do as Marcus gathers Jasper into his arms and rubs his back. The man is eight, nearly nine, months pregnant. Clint thinks that people who are nearly nine months pregnant are supposed to be fat, especially with twins. So he refrains from saying anything and retreats to the kitchen to finish his cupcake. 

The day after the cupcake fiasco, Clint approaches Marcus with a pattern and a request for knitting needles. He seems surprised, but agrees to keep it a secret from Jasper. Jasper knows immediately that the two of them are keeping a secret from him, but Clint has always been good at hiding when he wanted to and Marcus just laughs gently at his omega’s attempts to startle the truth out of Clint.

The babies are born exactly a month after Clint’s birthday, on February 7th, after an agonizing 53 hours of labor for Jasper. After feeling completely cut off for nearly three days, Clint is ecstatic to be locked into the room with his pack for the following three days. Clint presents Jasper with the fruits of his labor before he even meets the babies. He’d knitted four baby blankets in the preceding month, one each of baby blue, lilac, pastel green, and soft rose. To Clint’s surprise, Jasper begins to laugh and cry simultaneously. Clint only barely catches his startle response. Marcus also chuckles from behind Clint, but retains the wherewithal to answer Clint’s unasked question.

“Sweetheart, he’s just a little overwhelmed. He’s crying because he’s happy you made them and that they were a surprise. He’s laughing a little hysterically because you actually made plenty.”

It’s then that Clint realizes that there aren’t two, but three babies in the room. Two are swaddled tight to Jasper’s chest and, since he’d made a beeline straight to the bed, he hadn’t noticed the one cradled delicately in Marcus’ large hands. The babies in Jasper’s arms are much larger than the one in Marcus’. 

“This beautiful bombshell was hiding behind his sisters. Not even the doctor was prepared for him to slip out behind Bruiser there.” He nods to the larger of the two baby girls.

“Button, Bruiser, and Bombshell. Great nicknames, but I’m not sure…” Clint trails off in a teasing manner. Marcus grumbles good-naturedly about how they’re awesome names and nobody appreciates his creativity.

“I think Button here should be Angelica Morgan, and Bruiser can be Valentina Amparo, and Bombshell is definitely Neo Thabo.” Marcus and Clint both stopped to stare at Jasper. There was total silence for a moment.

“Darling, they’re beautiful. Those names are the most perfect names I’ve ever heard.” Marcus sounds misty as he and Clint crawl into the bed with Jasper. Jasper hands Bruiser to Clint after having him mimic Marcus’ hold on Bombshell. Clint cradles little Valentina as gently as he can against his chest.

Clint knows that they need to scent the babies. Marcus and Jasper had explained that the babies needed to become accustomed to the scents of the pack. It builds a bond between the babies and their Dam, Sire, and siblings. Since the babies are so small, their bonding pheromones are much weaker than the ones Clint had excreted in his panic over a month earlier. They need time to learn to absorb the soothing pheromones from their pack as well as become attuned to their individual scents.

Most of the time they’re stuck in the room, Clint and Jasper sleep curled together, along with the babies. There is an unspoken rule for quiet; they don’t speak much and, when they do, it is in whispers. Marcus repeatedly wakes them for food and water, and long enough for Jasper to feed a baby or two every hour on the hour. The babies actually seem to need to eat every other hour, but the nurses had helped Jasper get Bruiser on an off-set schedule from her siblings immediately. They decide to swaddle Valentina in the blue blanket, Neo in the lilac, and Angelica in the pink. Clint helps Marcus change exactly one diaper and resolves to never do so again. Clint doesn’t yet feel comfortable holding any of the babies alone. They are all so tiny, even Valentina. Clint feels like a giant next to them, like he could accidentally crush one with only his pinkie finger.

Finally, after what seems like forever to an eleven-year-old, they’re allowed to go home. Only. Home is much different than before. Marcus hired movers to get everything from the little apartment in the Upper Eastside of Manhattan to the much bigger four bedroom house on the outskirts of Crown Heights. There is a flurry of unpacking upon their arrival. First, the baby stuff, so that there’s somewhere to put the fussy little bundles while they unpack everything else. Then, the kitchen and bathrooms, because Jasper is hungry and Clint has to pee. After that, they unpack the master bedroom and leave everything else for later in the week.

All six of them sleep in the gigantic bed that Marcus had had to break down into five separate pieces just to get it out of the old apartment. After the first week, Clint tries to start sleeping in his bed again, but wakes up in the big bed with the babies for company every morning. Marcus and Jasper are always grinning at him by the time he stumbles into the kitchen. So, Clint returns to sleeping in the master bedroom with his pack. 

In March, Jasper blindsides Clint by dragging him in for all kinds of tests and puzzles. It’s an attempt to figure out where they should enroll him and he automatically hates it. He’s not very proud of the next events and he maintains that the proctor lady had it coming with her ridiculous over loud voice and huge writing in order to “overcome his difficulties”. When Jasper arrives from wherever he’d been waiting, he reads the situation with a glance and hauls Clint out to a separate office where he yells at everyone who comes into his sight while Clint gleefully munches on a couple of cracker sandwiches.

Jasper is eventually placated when the woman and her ablest tendencies are escorted from the building and a different proctor is provided. By then, they have wasted an entire day on the whole messed up process and everyone agrees that the best option is to return the following day. When they return to the house, Marcus seems to be at his wit’s end with the triplets despite the calming presence of Jasper’s Dam in the kitchen. (She’s visiting to meet all four of her new grandkids and is currently watching Marcus dance about with a smirk on her face and a baby in her arms.) 

After the testing fiasco, Clint doesn’t trust the school as far as he can throw the whole damn thing. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to start going until the fall. Instead, the whole family works on settling into a rhythm that works for all six of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering about the babies' names, Jasper and Marcus spend a whole lot of time on them.  
> Italian and English in origin, Angelica means angelic and Morgan means sea circle.  
> Spanish in origin, Valentina Amparo means strength and protection.  
> Tswanian in origin, Neo Thabo means gift and joy, respectively.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, due to the sensitive nature and tendency for multiples in my ABO universe, the gender of any and all babies are only found out when they're born. Therefore, Jasper simply had to have two names ready for each primary gender.


	3. How to Friend, by Clint Barton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint starts school and gains a friend!

Remarkably, the summer passes quickly for Clint and he’s blindsided yet again when Marcus is the one to drag him out school shopping on tax-free weekend in August. Shortly thereafter, he grumpily wakes up on the first day of school, grudgingly eats the massive breakfast Jasper makes, and resigns himself to an awful, horrible, no good, very bad day.

In turn, by the end of the day, Clint decides that he should no longer make decisions without knowing all of the facts, because the day actually wasn’t all that bad. All of his classes are advanced, because despite his lack of formal schooling, the circus was not the type to let children be illiterate. The strong-man had taught him how to read and write in both English and Russian, after he had picked up speaking the second language in an incredibly quick manner. The triplets who worked the trapeze taught him Spanish and Japanese because they noticed his speed and inclination for new languages. The Bearded Lady had had a masters in theoretical physics and taught him a love for math and science. So, rather than falling behind, Clint excelled at school.

They’d bumped him up a couple of years, too; he was a freshman in high school rather than a sixth grader like most of the kids his age. The most surprising part about Marvel High was another boy, only a year older than him, was in nearly all of his classes. The boy’s name was Tony and though he was ostensibly a part of the popular kids, he carried an air of loneliness and smelled lightly of fear. Clint supposed that Tony had sensed something of a connection between them because he’d zeroed in on Clint immediately. 

“Hey,” the kid says, startling Clint who’s standing in the middle of the hallway, completely and utterly lost. He pauses between each sentence and mumbles slightly as if he’s unsure of his welcome. “You’re the new kid. I’m Tony. I can help you with your classrooms. I mean, if you’d like.” 

“I, yeah, that’d be great,” Clint smiles reassuringly as he speaks. The boy’s pheromones are remarkably subtle. Anyone else would probably miss the fear and resignation emanating from the boy. After a moment, he adds, “I am the new kid, but I’d appreciate if you’d call me Clint.”

“Done. Hey! We’re in most of the same classes.” The boy, Tony’s, answering smile speaks of hope, but, for what, Clint can’t tell. 

“Awesome! If we don’t get a move on we’ll probably be late.” And when Clint grins, the boy responds in kind, and they take off down the hallway, their much smaller bodies slipping easily around the crowds.

And, as suddenly as Clint gained a family, he gained a best friend that was nearly as smart as himself. Nearly, because he was younger and Tony had the helping hand of a rich father and Clint had to deal with these stupid fucking hearing aids so there. Tony introduces him to the ‘it’ crowd and, though they seem like nice people on the surface, they smell…off. So Clint Sits with Tony and smiles blandly like Marcus does when he video conferences in his office with the door cracked. 

With Tony as his closest friend, Clint excels at school and is automatically protected from any outright bullying. Clint supposes that having a rich Daddy does help in some cases. (He owns some sort of really advanced company that Clint has little to no interest in.) In turn, Tony seems to find Clint’s inability to deal with anyone’s shit (even Tony’s own) quite refreshing. 

A month in, Clint catches Tony’s ‘friends’ talking about Tony behind his back. They’re saying some awful nasty things, such that Clint refuses to repeat them. He confronts them in front of Tony after school that day. He pulls a leaf from Jasper’s favorite book and lectures them until they confess. By then, Tony has stopped responding to any external stimuli and won’t look anyone in the eye. So, Clint calls Jasper, who calls Mrs. Stark, who agrees to let Tony come to Clint’s for a ‘playdate’. Jasper picks them up from school (because Jasper’s cool like that) and drives them home.

Clint drags the still numbed out Tony from the car and into his bedroom, bypassing the amused looking Marcus. There’s a baby on the floor of his room and Angelica giggles as he hefts her into his arms. He leaves Tony sitting on his bed while he sets Angelica in the playpen in the living room. By the time he returns, tears are streaming silently down Tony’s face. Clint makes soothing noises and wraps one burly arm around Tony’s thin shoulders. Tony curls into Clint’s familiar scent and cries for a long time. 

Afterwards, having been granted a small smile from Tony’s tear-streaked face, Jasper feeds them meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy and peas. Tony makes a face as Clint mashes all of it together into a big mess on his plate and proceeds to shovel it into his mouth at an alarming speed. Clint can’t even begin to imagine why he’d make that kind of face because this is the best food he’s ever eaten in his whole eleven years of life. 

Tony doesn’t say anything for the rest of the night, but he does eat the ice cream that follows dinner. He disappears to wash his face free of tear marks, and, when Valentina crawls into his lap during post dinner lounge time, he cuddles her gently to his chest with the most peaceful smile that Clint has ever seen on Tony Stark’s face. Post dinner lounge time consists mostly of the entire family sprawled across the floor and playing with the triplets while some sort of inconsequential show rolls on the television screen. They stay there until Tony’s butler, Jarvis, arrives to pick him up. Tony hugs both Clint and Jasper before he leaves.

Then Clint helps his parents bathe the babies and put them to bed (because they’d found out very quickly that three wet, wiggly, squirmy babies were much easier to handle with three sets of hands rather than two). The babies had moved from their pack den into the nursery at six months old and Clint had returned to his own bedroom simultaneously. Tonight Jasper comes to sit on the edge of Clint’s bed.

“You did a very good job taking care of your friend, Clint. I am very proud of you,” Jasper grins and wrinkles his nose until Clint giggles. “And so is your sire. Tony is a very bright young man, but this kind of thing, the betrayal of those you thought were your friends, no matter the action, is always hard to take. He’s gonna need your support, okay? Don’t leave him alone, darling, even if he tries to push you away.”

“I won’t let him go anywhere,” Clint assures his dam, so Jasper smiles again and kisses his forehead before he leaves to join Marcus in the living room. Clint spares a thought to the fact that his sire was unusually quiet and stony faced all day, but he falls asleep before the thought can grow into anything more than a brief spark.

In the morning, Marcus has returned to his normal, jovial self, so Clint dismisses the thought from bedtime the night before.


	4. Meet the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint is officially welcomed to the family during their massive Thanksgiving celebration.

Clint has never seen Jasper quite as upset as he is in November. Marcus has been called back to active military duty. Jasper is not angry, but Marcus is. He was supposed to be on inactive reserves for six more months. The babies have not yet reached a year old and Marcus is set to leave just after Kwanzaa.

Before that, though, there’s Hanukkah, and before that, there’s Thanksgiving. Clint doesn’t remember celebrating any of those things, but he does vaguely remember celebrating Christmas at the orphanage. This year, since they’ve got a decently sized house instead of a tiny apartment, Marcus and Jasper convince both sides of their extended family to come to Brooklyn for Thanksgiving. Jasper’s family is large and sprawling, but Marcus’ mother, Nia is the one who was difficult to convince. She does not like to travel, and as such, has not even met her grandchildren. 

Eventually, an exasperated Jasper sends Marcus to pick her up. She arrives three days before Thanksgiving with more fanfare than Clint ever received in the circus. (Which is saying something, because, hello, world’s greatest, and youngest, marksman at your service.) Clint quickly becomes overwhelmed, because, despite the progress he’s made from being a sad, scarred, lonely, little boy, he’s still got a lot of issues to work through.

So, he hides underneath his parents’ bed for a long time. For a while he focuses only on slowing down his racing heartbeat, but the sound of gentle cooing and babbling from above him breaks through his panic eventually. Then he focuses for a while on Neo’s adorable half words, interspersed with things like “Dama,” “Papa,” and “Clin'.” When Marcus joins Jasper and Bombshell on the bed, Clint crawls out of his hiding place to cuddle between them.

It’s not until the next morning that Clint feels comfortable in Nia’s presence. She makes a huge batch of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes. They’re his favorite breakfast food. However, Clint maintains that it’s only because she’s his grandmother that the gesture is immediately able to win him over. She apologizes gently for startling him so badly, but when he tries to apologize for his panic attack, she waves it off.

“Darlin’, it’s ridiculous to apologize for something that isn’t even your fault. Your psychological health is not always going to be the best, but it’s okay to not be okay. You’ve got people who care about you in each of us.” Her deep southern drawl colors the words like liquid honey and the message seeps quickly into his brain. It reverberates through his chest and settles into a corner of his heart in much the same way that Jasper’s promise in the hospital did. So like any happy, emotionally healthy eleven year old (who grew to this age lacking either), he bursts into tears.

His siblings, lacking understanding, but sensing his distress, follow suit. It takes nearly an hour to calm all four of them down completely. By then, the glorious breakfast has long gone cold and Clint feels that maybe that fact should earn some tears in and of itself. Then Nia takes all of the pancakes and throws them in the oven for a quick second. It warms them up without making them too much crispier, and although they’re less fluffy than they were before, the blueberries and chocolate chips are just as melty and delicious.

Afterwards, Clint’s relationship with Nia has been cemented and the next two days are not nearly as fraught with tears. Jasper’s family arrives on Thursday morning, but they are not big fans of making a big deal of arrivals, probably because of the sheer number of them. Clint has already met a good number of them, which helps him settle himself.

Jasper’s dam settles herself in the kitchen as soon as she arrives. She and Marcus make a buffet style breakfast and send it out to the dining room, then they start making an insane amount of food. Clint, munching on a cheese pastry, watches from the breakfast bar that mostly consists of a large window between the kitchen and dining room. Abigail prepares the two turkeys to slip into the oven and, while those are starting to cook, preps four more that she slips back into the cooler she and Jae, Jasper’s sire, brought with them. Meanwhile, Marcus peels an assortment of vegetables, including carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. 

Jasper’s eldest sister, Margot, sweeps in shortly after Marcus drops each of the veggies in a separate pot of boiling water. She adds another pot to the packed stovetop and leaves it to boil. She then ventures into the dining room for breakfast and winks before dropping a kiss on Clint’s head as she passes. Once he finishes his breakfast, Clint quickly loses interest in in the proceedings and wanders into the living room.

Jasper and Jae are seated in the recliners, ostensibly watching television, but in reality dozing lightly. The television itself is playing, but the sound is turned down low so as to facilitate conversation rather than mindless drooling. Marie, Margot’s eldest daughter, is playing on the floor with Valentina and Angelica. Marie is six years older than Clint and he’s never met anyone more obsessed with babies in his life. Martha, on the other hand, is refreshingly normal in her interests, despite the fact that Marie is her twin. When he spots Martha on the window seat, he heads to join her.

He’s waylaid twice on the way across the room. His aunt Angelica bounds off the couch with remarkable spryness and engulfs him in her arms. He feels like he might just disappear into the portly woman’s ample flesh before she lets him go and coos at him for a while. After he finally extracts himself from Angelica’s attention, her two sets of twins feel the need to greet him as well. They are four years apart, but the younger set is like a carbon copy of their elder siblings. Casey and Michael are the older set and their younger siblings copy them in nearly everything, from how they style their hair to what books they read. Casey and Ava, the girls, are blond haired, blue eyed, and, while they smile like angels, are the most evil set of people he’s ever met. Michael and Matthew are opposite their sisters in every way; dark-haired and green-eyed, they are as laid back and lazy as two people come. They shadow the girls wherever they go, eldest always on the right side, youngest on the left. 

“Hello, Clint darling”, starts Casey.

“It’s quite lovely to see you again, cousin dear,” finishes Ava.

“Yes, indeed,” intone Michael and Matthew dutifully from behind them, standing just offset enough that Clint can see their faces over the girls’ shoulders. Clint smiles at them awkwardly. He doesn’t quite understand why they feel the need to be the creepiest set of teenagers ever, but they seem like they must practice their little routine and he doesn’t want to anger them. 

“Er, h-hey, guys. How’s it running?” He asks timidly. Shortly thereafter, Talia’s huge family arrives and distracts the creepy set. Clint escapes to the window seat next to Martha.

“Hey, Clint,” She greets absentmindedly. Her nose is buried in a book that’s propped on her knees. She adjusts herself to give him room to sit next to her. “Give me a second to finish this chapter, yeah?”

Clint knows that he doesn’t have to wait very long, so he sets about making himself as comfortable as possible next to his favorite cousin. Martha sighs as she turns to him, but she smiles softly nonetheless. Before either of them can say anything, Jasper appears with a crying Neo in his arms. Between sobs, he’s saying “Clin” plaintively.

“Seems like our little bombshell couldn’t find his favorite person ever,” Jasper explains as he hands the baby over to Clint with a smile. “He didn’t sleep much last night; I think he’s teething again.”

“Hey buddy,” Clint says to Neo, whose sobs start to trickle off as Clint garners his attention. The baby reaches up to pat Clint’s cheek and the crying stops completely. Neo smiles sleepily and, wrapping his tiny arm around Clint’s neck, cuddles closer, turning to gaze blearily out the window. 

“Impressive.” Martha says quietly. She can’t whisper because the background noise from the sheer number of people in the living room would easily drown her out, but she’s obviously trying not to bother Neo, who is, in turn, obviously already on the verge of sleep. “Even Marie isn’t that good with babies.”

“’s not really that impressive,” Clint argues, blushing furiously and ducking his head. “I’m just his favorite comfort, um, person.” He trails off awkwardly. Despite living with his pack for nearly a year now, he’s still not used to the sincere praise that comes from every corner. Martha mercifully does not comment on his less than stellar self-esteem, and instead starts enthusing about a book series she thinks he’d like.

Since being adopted by the Johnsons, Clint has slowly discovered a love of both books and baking, in addition to his existing love of archery, language, and all things physics. He and Martha talk for a long while as the rest of Jasper’s family arrives in droves. Soon Jae and Jasper enlist Clint’s help to set up extra tables so that there is enough room for everyone to have a chair. In addition to the ones in the kitchen and dining room, they set up one each in the basement, playroom, living room and Clint’s room. 

Dinner is served buffet style using every available surface that has not already been designated for eating. Clint ends up between two of Talia’s munchkins. They talk the entire meal, but Clint quickly realizes that they don’t actually need a response from him so he starts to tune them out. He zones out until Abigail brings out the many many pies.

There are pies of every size, from miniature personal cherry pies to three massive pumpkin pies and most things in between. She serves fig pies and pecan pies, and ones filled with apples. A key lime pie and a strawberry pie are joined by the likes of blackberry and blueberry pies. A pair of banana cream pies and a trio of lemon meringue pies vie for space with a couple of boysenberry pies and a large treacle tart. To Clint, it seems rather excessive, but his mouth still waters fervently. 

The pies are gone within twenty minutes. Clint, for his part, is totally stuffed. He feels like the damn turkey and says as much to the amusement of his relatives. Everyone finds a place to laze around. Clint is joined in his room by a multitude of cousins, some of whom fall asleep quickly despite the loud shrieking and whining from those remaining awake. Clint feels like it is much too loud for him to join the ranks of the snoring army. However, as the thought crosses his mind, he slips into a deep sleep. 

When Clint awakens on Friday morning, he still feels full, in addition to the groggy ickiness that comes with having slept too long. Most of the family has left to return home in the dead of night or spent the night in a hotel. All of Clint’s grandparent remain, though. He finds all three of them laughing in the kitchen as they feed the triplets. Since Jasper and Marcus are nowhere to be seen, Clint assumes that they’ve decided to have a lie-in while they can. 

He blinks at the adults for a few moments before he decides that he’s not hungry. Instead of going back to bed, though, he heads for the overfull sink and the surrounding piles of dishes. Jae remarks approvingly, albeit loudly, on his initiative. Too soon for Clint’s liking, Jasper and Marcus have wandered in, eaten breakfast, and sent Jasper’s parents on their way. As she prepares to leave, Nia drops a kiss on the forehead of each of her grandchildren and whispers a soft goodbye in four little ears. “Until next time, my darling,” she says to Clint. He cries silently as Marcus leaves with Nia in tow to return her to her own daily life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this took so long. Not only is this chapter twice as long as the rest, but Jasper insisted that all of his family members be introduced to me. There are so many of them! Please enjoy!


	5. December

Clint doesn’t really remember much of December; he tries to block it from his mind. He remembers the last time he saw his dad. He remembers tears and fussy babies who did not understand where daddy had gone. Marcus is called again, but this time, he’s told he has to leave immediately. Clint’s not told where his dad is going, but from Jasper’s reaction and Marcus’ obvious ire, he gathers that it is much more dangerous than the original assignment.

They go with him to an army base to see him off. It’s 0430, so the babies are fast asleep as Marcus boards his plane. Clint waves halfheartedly. The only other person on the flight is a new recruit and his mother seems beside herself as they watch the plane taxi down the runway and lift off. Even though the plane has long since disappeared when Clint and Jasper turn away, the woman doesn’t make any move to follow them. Instead, she stands stock still as tears stream down her face. 

As Clint helps Jasper strap the babies back in, Clint proposes an idea that makes Jasper smile genuinely for the first time in days. Clint runs all the way back from the car to where the woman is still standing, still staring at the last place the plane could feasibly have been seen. There he hesitates, nearly unable to follow through and approach her, but eventually, using every last drop of courage in his body, he gently reaches out to touch her hand. She starts and turns to look at Clint blearily.

“H-hi. I’m Clint. Um. My Dad left on that plane, too. I just thought that. Um. I mean, maybe,” He trails off uncertainly. After a moment, in which her vaguely lost expression morphs into one of curiosity, he continues. “I just thought that maybe you didn’t want to be alone so you could join us for breakfast?”

“That would be lovely.” She answers graciously, suddenly drawing herself up to her full height and pulling a handkerchief from an invisible pocket somewhere on her person. She has the faintest hint of an accent that Clint can’t quite place. Clint promptly loses his ability to speak. She’s about five times more intimidating now. She turns and, perfectly postured, leads the way toward the parking lot. She introduces herself to Jasper as “Margaret Coulson, but you guys can call me Peggy,” and proposes a diner in the small town not far from the base for their breakfast. 

Over breakfast, she tells them about her son, Phil, on his first deployment, specially trained and selected. She seems to become more joyous as she explains that her son, following in her own footsteps, was recruited directly into the rangers. 

“He can take care of himself,” she assures them, her eyes sparkling brightly as she helps feed Neo. "In fact, I’m more worried for his unit than I am for his safety. He is quite the wild card.”

Clint finds himself fascinated with this new topic and breakfast is over far too quickly for his liking. He worries that they will not see her again and helps Jasper strap the car seats back into their minivan with an inexplicable heaviness in his heart. Once they get back home, Jasper decrees nap time for all since they were all up far too early and for once, the babies seem to agree with him. Clint falls asleep quickly but his dreams are filled with flashes of fear and the scent of gunpowder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took way too long and is shockingly short. I agonized for the longest time on where to cut the division between this chapter and the next, but this seemed the most natural to me.


	6. Natasha

In February, they throw the babies a birthday party and Jasper’s entire family shows up again. Nia sends her gifts via mail and even Tony shows his face. The entire day is kind of bittersweet because Marcus should be there. There are several traditions at a first birthday that demand the presence of the sire. Jae steps in with a sad smile. Jasper seems on the verge of tears most of the day. Soon thereafter and before Clint realizes it, the school year is over, he’s somehow managed to skip another grade (along with Tony, because Tony is a competitive little shit), and summer break has begun. 

In June, Tony comes over to stay for a week and bonds even more with the little ones. They, in turn, are completely enamored with him. The visit is mostly an apology for having had to miss Clint’s birthday in January. Tony had been out of town with his family and Clint hadn’t felt much like celebrating anyway; the babies had still been fussy about their missing sire at that point. 

In July, Clint meets a girl named Natasha when Jasper decides to start taking the babies to the local library for story time on Saturdays. She is tiny and likes to peek at him from behind her fiery fringe. She doesn’t seem to talk much; the only reason he knows her name is because a stern looking woman approaches and scolds her in Russian as she drags Natasha away. He hates the woman (bitch) as soon as she opens her mouth. What’s wrong with reading about ballet, anyway?

In August, the weekend after school resumes, he watches the bitch smack Natasha across the face in front of everyone in the library. She’d fallen over her own feet when the bitch yanked her out of her chair. A gasp echoes across the room, but what shocks Clint more is the fact that instead of crying, Natasha straightens her back, silently sucks a breath in through her nose, and blanks her face. It strikes a chord in Clint. That is not the normal reaction for a girl that small. 

The librarian seems to agree and calls the cops. Clint winces at that reaction. They’d never helped when Clint’s former sire beat him. Yet when they arrive, Jasper immediately steps forward to talk to the social worker. She grins at Clint and he recognizes her with a start. She’d performed the evaluation that allowed Clint to stay with his pack. 

Jasper ends up giving his statement to the police while one of the other parents helps Clint deal with triplets who have picked up on the tension in the environment and begun fussing. Eventually, the bitch is deemed under investigation, but Natasha is allowed to leave with her. In Clint’s opinion, that is completely idiotic, but since no one bothers to ask his opinion, Natasha disappears.

She’s gone from the library for three months. Jasper frets the entire time. The next time Clint sees her, in mid-November, it’s on the news. The investigation into the bitch appears to have uncovered an entire underground Russian human trafficking ring. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of girls are discovered across the US. The bitch seems to have been one of the higher ups, keeping Natasha close as her pride and joy of the operation. 

There is a phone call but Jasper take extreme care to hide the conversation from Clint. Immediately afterwards, Abagail shows up to babysit the four of them and Jasper disappears for four days. He returns extremely exhausted but smiling slightly and a little over a week later, Natasha comes to live with them.

She’s worse off than Clint was at the beginning. Where he was tentative, she is hostile. Clint’s transition was smoothed by the immediate bond between Marcus and himself. Natasha has already presented as an alpha which makes the whole process more difficult. But it also means that Marcus’ absence is a blessing in disguise. Obviously, Marcus’ smell still permeates their home despite his 11 month absence, but since he isn’t actually present, it’s only the smell of claim laid on the pack. 

She has presented and her body believes that she is an adult, but since she won’t tell her age and her size suggests that she has not yet reached the age of majority in the US, she must stay with a foster family. Before she came to them, social services tried to place her with a different family. They had not understood the unspoken no touching rule to their eldest daughter’s detriment. Natasha had awoken to a hand on her shoulder after a nightmare. The rest of the family had awoken to a blood curdling scream and a knife through the girl’s shoulder. 

The event seems to have caused any progress they made in gaining her trust at the library to regress. She barely looks at the babies, carefully avoids eye contact with Jasper and even Clint, and hides herself in the guest rooms that have been deemed hers. Clint delivers her food every mealtime and carefully does not watch her eat. He talks the whole time she allows him in her room. He tells her about Tony and school, Jasper and the babies, Marcus and Peggy, pretty much anything that comes to his mind. He tells her about the circus and even Barney and his biological parents.

“He was a bit of a bastard. I think it has something to do with being a beta. He hit me hard enough as a baby that I can’t hear quite right.” He rambles one Tuesday in January, nearly two months after she arrived. “It’s worse in my right ear most of the ti-”

“Bastard.” Natasha hisses vehemently. It takes him longer than he’d care to admit to realize that she’s spoken in Russian. When it hits him, he wants to smack himself.  
“Yeah. I hated that abusive piece of shit, but now I’ve got Jasper and Marcus and the babies,” he responds in kind. His heart is racing and he has to reign in the urge to grin as bright as the sun. She hums in response but does not smile. He’ll take it.

He refuses Jasper’s offer of a birthday party again because this time, he’s afraid that Natasha might regress again so soon after they started making progress. She now greets him with a Russian “Hello, Little Hawk,” every single day and she’s begun to smile slightly. The final change, when it comes, does so quickly and irreversibly. On January 23rd, she ventures out of her rooms for the first time. Clint can feel his heart swell as she interacts with Jasper for the first time and actually looks at the babies, though she flat out refuses to touch them. Marcus calls for the first time since his departure later that day with the news that he will be returning quite soon.

On February 2nd, long before the sun even thinks to rise, she wanders her way into Jasper’s bedroom after a nightmare and curls under his arm. That is where Clint finds them hours later, after the babies started screaming in confusion when their dam was not attentive as soon as they awoke. Something in Clint’s chest releases and the sudden lack of inexplicable tension between his ribs makes him lightheaded. Natasha eats breakfast in the kitchen with them for the first time. 

By the time that Marcus returns home on the 8th, Natasha has progressed as far as helping feed the babies. Jasper even startles a laugh out of her when he opens a particularly nasty diaper and makes a truly horrendous face. Unlike, Clint, Natasha came to trust the pack slowly and in her own way. Marcus’ return could be a tipping point. Natasha will either accept him as her pack alpha or all of their efforts will be for naught. 

He gets back quite early in the morning, without warning, and startles Natasha inadvertently. The rest of the house startles awake to a huge mess in the living room being pointedly ignored by the two polar opposites preparing to make hot chocolate in the kitchen. Clint joins them quickly, but Jasper takes an extra minute to watch a bit of plaster that slowly gives up the ghost and crashes to the floor. Natasha’s bed hangs out over the hole in her floor. Her dresser has fallen through already and is an unrecognizable pile of ruins along with what must have been the couch and the coffee table. Jasper sighs heavily, but requests a hot chocolate for himself and turns down the hall to soothe the angry babies.

Despite their rather explosive first meeting, or perhaps in light of it, Marcus and Natasha get on like a house on fire. For a week after his return, the entire pack sleeps in the master bedroom with Marcus. Then they remodel Natasha’s bedroom (Jasper had insisted that the floor get fixed immediately) in order to make her more comfortable. After that though, things return to normal; Clint continues to go to school, spending his days laughing at Tony’s antics, and bonds with his pack every night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tash kinda blindsided me with her appearance, so I was not quite prepared for this chapter to turn out this way.
> 
> Edit: my Beta kindly pointed out a single spelling error :)


	7. Visiting the Coulsons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Tony are accepted to college, Jasper goes into heat, and the kids visit Peggy and Phil

Clint’s “senior” year of highschool goes off without a hitch. His life is finally something that resembles normal. He’s found an archery club that meets after school. Natasha takes the test for and receives her GED. Clint has learned a great many things about Natasha, including the fact that she is a fair bit older than him. Marcus has Phil over more than a few times for poker and sports games and on more than one occasion, Peggy tags along. She always has a twinkle in her eyes and outrageous stories to tell Clint. Natasha also makes fast friends with Peggy.

In January, Acceptance letters start arriving in droves for both Tony and Clint.

“I got my first choice!” Tony screams in his ear as he clings to Clint from behind. “I got MIT!”

“Tony, was there really any question?” The other boy actually seems fairly excited in Clint’s Opinion. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a fucking genius, but so are you, dumbass,” Tony replies, rolling his eyes. “I still don’t understand why you won’t come with me. There would be great opportunities in physics.” Tony’s voice has taken on a wheedling quality.

“I want to got to Princeton, because-” Clint starts, sighing when Tony inevitably interrupts him.

“Yeah, I know, you haven’t presented and you want to stay close to home, yada, yada,” Tony says quickly. “But it’s college, we’re supposed to be spreading our metaphorical wings, you know?”

“I’m 14. I don’t need to spread my wings, I think I did enough flying when I was in the circus,” Tony snorts and it ripples down Clint’s back in an interestingly uncomfortable manner. “Can you please get down now?”

“It’s just, it’s technically ranked number 2 for applied physics degrees,” Tony grumbles as he finally climbs off Clint’s back.

Their graduation ceremony is extremely boring. Tony’s parents don’t show up and he tries not to show Clint how much that bothers him. It makes Clint want to punch something, preferably Howard’s face. Instead, Jasper and Marcus make sure to cheer as loudly for Tony as they do for Clint. Clint even likes to think that he could see Natasha enthusiastically clapping. Afterwards, they go out for ice cream and by unspoken agreement, no one mentions the not-quite dry tear tracks on Tony’s cheeks.

In June, Jasper and Marcus decide to ride out Jasper’s heat. Jasper had allowed for two heats after the babies were born three years prior, but has been on suppressants in the interim. Peggy and Phil agree to have the five children visit them for the duration. Phil picks them up in late June, grinning and ruffling Clint’s hair. Clint unsuccessfully tries to hide his blush by ducking his head, only to meet Natasha’s eyes instead. There is a decidedly mischievous (read Evil) look in her eye that immediately sobers him. He knows what that look means. It means that Natasha has found out something and has decided to plot about it.

The triplets are relatively easy to get into the car with Jasper and Marcus helping. Their parents grace each forehead with a gross wet smooch, ignoring Natasha’s put-upon expression and Clint’s desperate struggles to avoid both of them. The babies only giggle and say bye-bye over and over like normal three year olds. Clint mentally labels them traitors. It’s as they’re finally approaching the Maryland state line that the babies decide that they absolutely hate this series of events.

Clint thinks Angelica may have started it, but the other two pick up quickly enough that it doesn’t really matter. They scream at the top of their lungs for the rest of the drive. Logically, Clint knows that there’s not much they can do for them. It is the longest they’ve been away from their Dam since they were born. Having Clint and Tasha there will help, but Clint has no doubt that the next week and a half will be extremely stressful for everyone involved. By the time they reach Peggy’s impressively sprawling house, Phil has intense stress lines around his eyes and his knuckles have been clenched so tight around the steering wheel that they’re still white for several minutes after he releases it. Peggy’s face is carefully free of any indicators of stress or surprise, but the speed at which she rushes out to great them betrays her worry. Phil grabs two of the still squalling three year olds. Clint and Natasha are tasked with getting the bedding that has been carefully sealed in several bags. The scent of their pack and cuddling with their siblings will hopefully calm the babies. Peggy settles Bruiser gently against her hip and leads Clint and Natasha into the house.

They settle the babies and blankets in a bedroom at the top of the first flight of stairs. The entire room smells of cleaner. It makes Clint’s nose itch like crazy. Peggy drops a quick kiss on Clint’s head before she sweeps out of the room. The smile Phil offers as he pulls the door shut behind them is more of a pained grimace. Natasha is already ripping open the bags and forming them into a nest-like shape, but Clint rolls his eyes and shoves her toward the babies instead. Natasha is decidedly horrible at making nests. It irks her because she has become proficient at near every other skill Marcus has introduced her to.

Phil arrives with dinner around three hours later. The babies have settled and are sleeping peacefully. Clint doesn’t want to wake them for food but it would be cruel not to in the long run. Natasha frowns back at him when he meets her eyes over the platter of food and Phil, the coward, takes the opportunity to slip back out the door. The man’s been in a war zone before but can’t deal with three three-year-olds.

“Coward!” Natasha yells at his retreating back, making Clint snort.

“It’s self-preservation,” jokes Peggy as she appears at the top of the stairs.

Phil, in turn, stops and tries to stutter out a response that turns unintelligible. A flush rises up from underneath his collar and he spins on his heel. Clint notices that his ears are also adorably pinked. He disappears into his room.

The babies are tired enough that they don’t fuss much as they are awoken. It probably helps that Clint and Natasha are in such high spirits as they help the toddlers eat. Valentina and Neo quickly fall back asleep. Angelica, on the other hand, demands to be entertained. Clint leaves Natasha on the bed with a book and helps Angelica toddle down the stairs. She’s ridiculously independent compared to the other two. She and Clint join Peggy in the living room where she’s watching jeopardy.

“Guilty pleasure,” Peggy leans in to whisper. She winks and returns to her previous position. As she does so, Phil enters from the direction of the kitchen.

He’s wearing a frilly pink apron over his button up and slacks. His entire front is covered in flour, including most of his neck and a good portion of his hair. Phil meets Clint’s eyes for a fraction of a second before embarrassment gets to him and he stutters something before quickly retreating again.

When Clint turns to Peggy in bemusement, she is silently appraising him. She’s silent long enough that it begins to make Clint fidget. Finally, after an eternity, she grins and nods at him with a disconcerting twinkle in her eye. For a moment, she forcibly reminds him of Natasha when she’s broken a rule and gotten away with it. The moment passes fairly quickly.

The babies fuss on and off for several days. Mornings are especially awful because they always seem to wake up expecting Jasper or Marcus. Meal times are nearly as bad because they will only let Clint or Natasha feed them. Phil refuses to even try, but Peggy does her best to help them. It helps when she suggests they eat in the kitchen rather than the nest. The babies are fascinated by the change in scenery and are much easier to feed.

Clint finds that after the babies finally settle, the remaining week flies by at an impressive speed. In no time, he, Phil, and Natasha are strapping three wiggly toddlers back into a van. They get more and more excited as they start to recognize their surroundings and by the time phil pulls onto their street, they are literally screaming in excitement. 

Jasper is sporting an obvious healthy glow and Marcus, a smug grin. The former quickly sweeps his brood into the house, while the latter takes a moment to thank Phil. When Marcus joins them in the nest, he’s grinning even larger and there’s a familiar gleam in his eye when he looks at Clint. Clint is starting to get used to that look in other people’s eyes. He sighs internally as he begins to drift off to sleep. He’d rather not know, he decides. Life is too good for inexplicable mysteries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably go back and edit most of this chapter, but I tried my best. I'm glad that I am finally in a place where I can work on this fic again.


End file.
